New Land: Beginnings
by Luminara
Summary: Cassandra and her friends do what 14 year olds do best... Get themselves into trouble that is way over their heads.


Title: New Land: Beginnings  
Author: Emily/Luminara lady(at)alias-grace(dot)com  
Rating: G  
Spoilers: Singularity. Rite of Passage eventually.   
Series: A sequel (of sorts. It's not connected enough to just be a second chapter) for New Land. You don't particularly need to read that to make sense of this, but it's helpful.  
Summary: What kind of trouble could a group of 14 year olds get into? Especially when said group of 14 year olds happen to be the progeny of various members of StarGate Command...  
Disclaimer: I suppose I could make a good claim to Jessie Feretti, Kim Silar and Andy Davis, but they'd probably consider me a tragically unhip person not worthy of association (read: old), so I will hold off on that claim. None of the recognized SG-1 characters belong to me. If they did, Jonas and Daniel would be an item before you could say "against regulations". So be glad.  
Notes: I am desperately in need of a new beta. So constructive criticism is not only accepted, but begged for. Work in Progress. Okay Archiving: If you want it, tell me. I like to know I'm loved.  
  
Chapter Notes: Yes, this will eventually have a plot. I just haven't gotten there yet.  
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It had been three years since Cassandra started school on Earth. And in those three years, she had been inseparable from Jessica Feretti, Kim Silar and Andy Davis.  
  
The four soon to be freshmen were well known as a quartet by everyone. They got on well with the rest of their schoolmates, but the four knew that they had something that set them apart. They knew so many government secrets that the profiles of all four had been declared classified. (This, as you can imagine, caused their school much consternation, but a school that included the children of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex workers had learned long ago not to ask too many questions if students mysteriously appeared or disappeared every so often or had great chunks of their family background labelled as 'need to know'.)  
  
13 year old Cassandra Fraiser had been hanging out at her friend Kim's house on the day it all started. It was a very hot summer day and Kim, Jessie and Cassie (as she was known to her friends) couldn't think of a thing to do. So instead of trying to amuse themselves, they resorted to the time honoured tradition of 13 year olds everywhere. They whined.   
  
"Mom!" Kim called into the kitchen.   
  
"What?" her mom answered distractedly.   
  
"We're bored. What can we do?"   
  
"Well, you're going to have to find something to do on your own. I'm busy planning the Foster's banquet." Mrs. Silar was the head of the only catering business in town and was usually busy, but she worked at home, so that meant that more often than not the girls ended up at the Silar household, since Cassie's mom worked all day at Cheyenne Mountain (well, actually at Stargate Command, but the girls weren't really supposed to know or talk about that) and Jessie's step mom taught summer school. It also meant that while they were kept from doing anything too destructive/dangerous/stupid, they were pretty much left up to their own devices for entertainment.   
  
"Can we go to the zoo?" Jessie called in to Mrs. Silar, gaining rolled eyes from the other girls. "What? I want to take pictures of the animals so that I can draw them. I like the zoo." she said defensively, curling her long black hair around her finger. The other two girls eyed her suspiciously. Jessie was not usually a hair twirler. In fact, she usually had it pulled up in a tight pony tail on the back of her head and did her best to ignore that it existed.   
  
"Well, I guess that's okay, since it's just down the street. But, Kim, I want you to take my cell phone and have one touch emergency dialling set. And don't..."   
  
"Talk to strangers, eat candy given to us by creepy guys in cars, irritate the security guards, or pretend that we're French, Russian or Ethiopian. Is that all?" Kim asked her mom playfully.   
  
"Or Egyptian." Cassandra added, "Remember the last time we pretended to be Egyptian Gods at Mom's picnic?" That had from then on been labelled the number one rule about the girls' roleplaying games. No Egyptians. At least not when there were CM personnel hanging around any of their houses.   
  
"Yes, I think you have it all." Mrs. Silar responded, choosing to ignore the teasing from her teenage daughter and cohorts. "Be back in time for dinner, Mrs. Davis has invited us all over for a barbecue at their farm this evening."   
  
"We will be! See you!"   
  
"Bye, Mrs. Silar!"   
  
"Thank you, Mrs. Silar!"   
  
With that, the girls were out the door and walking down the sidewalk. "So, why did you really want to go to the zoo that you didn't want to say around my mom?" Kim asked. It was well known that all of their parents told each other every single thing they heard, and letting lose personal information around one parent pretty much doomed them to teasing by all the rest as well.   
  
"Well, I really did want to go to the zoo and take pictures..." Jessie trailed off. She loved to take pictures and was getting pretty good at it for a 13 year old.   
  
"And?" Cassie asked, sensing a chink in her friends armour.   
  
"Yeah. That can't be the whole story. You had the same look that my dad gets when he's been hurt and Cassie's mom gives him the good drugs." Kim triumphantly pronounced.   
  
"Well, there is this boy..." Jessie ducked her head a little.   
  
"Ah ha! First crush! Whoo! Hey everyone, Jessie....' Kim's shouting was stopped by Jessie clamping a hand over her mouth.   
  
"Don't you dare, Kimberly Silar!"   
  
Cassie could see that Kim was seriously weighing the pros and cons of biting Jessie in the hand and decided to step in. "So, what's this boy's name? Is he anyone we know?"   
  
"No, I don't think so. He's just moved here. His dad is the new primatologist and he hangs around at the zoo and helps him." Jessie let go of Kim's mouth, but not before giving her a warning glance."His name is Keith. He has the coolest hair ever. And he wants to go on safari in Africa."   
  
"So, why haven't we heard of this guy before?" Kim queried. This was a good question, considering the three spent almost all their time together. "Trying to keep him from us?"   
  
"No. I don't keep anything from you guys, you know that!" I just met him last week when he and his dad visited Andy's house. Remember, you two had had to leave early for doctor's appointments?" Kim seemed satisfied with this response, and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. Her friends were just as close as she was with them, but when they fought, they really fought. Kim had a temper inherited directly from her Irish ancestors and Jessie was just stubborn and wouldn't give in. Ever.And Kim baiting was one of her favourite hobbies.   
  
Cassie was the quiet, studious one of the group. She was the Hermione to Kim's Ron and Jessie's Harry. She had started out being quiet because there wasn't much she could say. It's hard to find things to talk about when your entire history is on a need to know basis. It had turned into habit and she hadn't seen any need to change that habit.   
  
"I can't believe you have a crush." Cassie commented.   
  
"Yeah, out of character, huh? I mean, everyone expects Kim to always be chasing after boys, but not me. Why is that?"   
  
"I think people just expect you to be interested in other things. You're so into your art." Cassie answered the probably intended as rhetorical question.   
  
"Oh, come on, Cassie. We all know why it really is. It's because everyone expects Kim to be a lesbian."   
  
"Just for you, my dear Kim." Cassie had to hold in a bout of giggles as Jessie grabbed Kim and placed an over dramatic smooch on her friend. "You know I only have eyes for you. Keith is just a cover up. So let us run away and be married immediately!" Kim pushed away the artist and made a warding off gesture.   
  
"Dude, girl you may be into girls, but I'm all for boys." she said through her laughter.   
  
"Yes, we know Kim. That's why you try to dress and act like one." Jessie shot right back. Kim was the tomboy of the group. She had little use for dressing nicely and even less use for girly girls. Jessie and Cassie were the only girls she could stand for extended periods of time.   
  
"Hey, all the better to infiltrate their world and snag one for my own." Kim said as she adopted a mock swagger. "So, now that we've given both of us social stigmas, what shall we do for you, our dear Cassie?" both girls had slightly predatory looks on their faces.   
  
Searching for a good response before she was subjected to the combined wit of Kim and Jessie, Cassie smiled and said "Don't ask, don't tell." with a wag of her eyebrow. "If you haven't noticed, we're being watched." she nodded her head a group of boys across the street.   
  
"Ooh, those are Juniors. My big brother is friends with a couple of them." Jessie pointed out. "But who do you think they're watching? Our lovely wannabe boy, Kim, or our mysterious Cassie?"   
  
"Definitely Kim. They look like jocks. And jocks don't like me." Cassie theorized, sneaking a glance at the four.   
  
"Not true." Jessie objected. "They think you're just fine until you utterly humiliate them in front of the whole class."   
  
Cassie had to agree with this, she did have a tendency to say things without thinking, especially if it was in a class where she was feeling like she knew more than the rest of the group combined. And that had made her quite a few, not enemies, but people who had made notes to never argue with her publically.   
  
They arrived at the zoo and showed their student IDs to get in free. Cassie liked the zoo, her home planet hadn't had the variety of animals that Earth had to her knowledge. And there was nothing like a zoo anywhere near her home village. She took a lot of delight from seeing animals from all around the planet.   
  
The girls made their way to the primate display and found a bench to sit on and pretend to be casual while they chatted and all kept an eye out for this 'Keith'.   
  
"Hey, there's his dad. I'm going to go say hi to him and try to find out where Keith is. Without being too obvious." Jessie stated. Kim and Cassie wished her luck and watched as the girl approached the tall blonde man. The two had a brief conversation, with the dad shaking his head and Jessie's shoulders slumping. Then Jessie walked back over to where Kim and Cassie were sitting.   
  
"No luck. He's over at Andy's house." Jessie pouted, picking up her bag.   
  
"That traitor!" Kim exclaimed. "How dare he take your crush. Little maneater he is. We should hunt him down and throttle him."   
  
Jessie and Cassie rolled their eyes. "No need for throttling." Cassie stated. "Remember, we're all going over to Andy's house for the barbeque. There's no way Andy's mom would let someone leave her house without feeding him, so we're in luck. We'll see him tonight." her tone was final, and the other two had no choice but to agree. "So now the only question is, what will Jessie wear?" she added with a grin, looking forward to the chance to dress up one of her two fashion apathetic friends. Jessie groaned.   
  
Later that day, they were all waiting in the Silars' SUV waiting for Kim's dad. "Come on! How long does it take for him to change into casual clothes?" Kim whined.   
  
"Why are you so impatient?" Mrs. Silar turned aroud and looked at the girls in the back seat. "The food is still going to be there when we get there. I promise."   
  
"Kim sighed and made a face at her mom, "I just want to get there. We, umm, have something to tell Andy and it can't wait."   
  
"I'm sure." her mom rolled her eyes and turned back around. "There he is. You can stop your huffing and sighing now."   
  
The ride there was made in silence, Kim, Jessie and Cassie all silently urging the car to go faster, and Kim's parents doing their best to ignore the antsiness of the girls. They finally got there, and Kim's dad pulled off the dirt drive that led up to Andy's house and parked next to a truck that Cassie identified as Colonel O'Neill's. The girls got out of the car and immediately set out to find Andy (and hopefully Keith).   
  
The gathering was mostly on the back porch of the Davis' house at the moment, so they checked there first, being careful not to be seen by anyone who would feel the need to ask them questions about how they were enjoying the summer, and were they looking forward to high school, and what did they plan to do with the rest of their lives. Not seeing Andy, they headed to the most likely spot.   
  
They were right this time, and as they climbed up into the hayloft of the barn, they heard the sound of two male voices, one definitely Andy's and one that was unknown to two of the three.   
  
"Hey! Boy, where are your manners, come help three damsels in distress find their way through this maze of hay bales." Kim called out. It was indeed a maze, and Andy worked hard to make it so. Not that it would be hard to find him, but it was a good enough alert as any.   
  
"Just climb over the pile on your left. We're right here." Andy answered. They did so, and Cassie was glad that she hadn't actually convinced Jessie to wear a skirt. As she waited for the other two to jump down, Cassie took a second to observe the new boy. He had the same blonde hair as his dad, but it was hanging over his eyes floppily. He had on a shirt advertising some camp and long jean shorts. Cassie could definitely see what Jessie saw in this guy.   
  
"Hey, you three. I'd like to introduce you to Keith.his dad and my dad are old friends. He just moved here. He's not technically qualified to be part of the 'circle', but he followed me home. Can I keep him?" Andy grinned, gesturing for the girls to sit down in the opening.   
  
Cassie noticed Kim being elbowed in the ribs by the third girl as they sat down and smothered a grin. Apparently this was going to be an interesting day. She could only hope that it wouldn't get to the level of interesting that involved Kim and Jessie throwing raised voices and more physical objects at each other.   
  
Luckily that hope was fulfilled and the day was spent quite uneventfully (for most of the group. Cassie had a feeling Jessie wouldn't consider it uneventful.) 


End file.
